Posts

• Jan 5, 2009

  Can you crack a code?

  Saw this on Bruce Schneier's blog, it's the FBI's Dec 2008 cryptanalysis problem. Can you crack a code?

  Good fun.

• Jan 4, 2009

  Mac 101: Enter directory paths when in open/save dialogs - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

  Saw this on TUAW, I've been looking for that functionality since I switched to Mac. Although it's useful to be able to specify a folder path and avoid having to traverse the folder lists, a bigger benefit for me is being able to specify a directory that you can't reach normally in an open/save dialog, /tmp for example.

  Thanks TUAW, I should probably read all the Mac 101 posts

  TUAW Article.

• Oct 9, 2007

  mysql: --i-am-a-dummy

  I just noticed the mysql client “--i-am-a-dummy” parameter in the help output (from mysql --help) This interestingly named synonym for “--safe-updates” looks like it should be set as the default on any live mysql database. The command is supposed to block updates and deletes that don’t use keys. As an example, it could be used to protect against the proverbial (but not uncommon) “dummy” entering a command like: UPDATE users SET password = PASSWORD('secret'); instead of the intended command: UPDATE users SET password = PASSWORD('secret') WHERE user_id = 521;

• Aug 21, 2007

  Compiling Ruby on Ubuntu - Part 2

  Following on from my previous post Installing Ruby on Ubuntu, I tried to install/compile Ruby (and rubygems, rake) on Ubuntu server 7.04. Since Ubuntu Server is a “minimal” installation for use on a server, various development tools need to be installed, I used the following commands: apt-get install build-essential autoconf manpages-dev and also apt-get build-dep ruby1.8 Without doing the last step you get errors building rubygems

  /usr/local/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/remote_fetcher.rb:4:in `require': no such file to load -- zlib (LoadError)

• Aug 13, 2007

  Future looks bright for video ads

  Continuing in the online video theme, The Register has a story about video ads: Future looks bright for video ads The article talks about ad-funded online video, and video ads in web pages. Both of these are relevant to me at work.

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